Romney out

Romney launched his campaign almost a year ago in his native Michigan. The former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist invested more than $40 million of his own money into the race, counted on early wins in Iowa and New Hampshire that never materialized and won just seven states on Super Tuesday, mostly small caucus states.

Romney spent about $136,000 per delegate… and that was just his own money. I guess that’s why he ran on his business experience.

Joe Scarborough of MSNBC and a conservative Republican just said that Republicans are privately expecting a landslide victory for Democrats this November. Not only the White House but strangleholds on the Senate and House as well.

Mike Huckabee may have done us all a great service. We on the left may not agree with a lot of his views, but even to us he seems to be a decent and honest man. Next to him, Romney came across as an opportunistic, hypocrital schmuck.

Well the last nail in America’s coffin has been pounded in. I prefer the captain of the US Titanic to be a Democrat. Either way we are getting socialism, reeducation camps and mass murder. Liberals are so much better experienced in fascist takeovers. So where do I sign up to campaing for Hitlery?

Mike Huckabee may have done us all a great service. We on the left may not agree with a lot of his views, but even to us he seems to be a decent and honest man. Next to him, Romney came across as an opportunistic, hypocrital schmuck.

Damning with faint praise. Romney comes across as an opportunistic, hypocritical schmuck even in comparison to the person whose picture appears next to the “opportunistic hypocrite” entry in the Washington state political dictionary.

Lets make a bet. Republican wins the White House and I donate $200 to your favorite charity, in the name of ChristmasGhost. Democrat wins the White House and you buy Goldy $50 worth of beer at his By Me a Beer page.

Shake?

You are living in a delusional state of mind if you believe that Republicans have a snowball’s chance in hell at the White House. You can also count on losing ground, big ground, in the House and Senate. I suggest putting down the crack pipe and Jack Daniels and sleep it off. You are going to need to be wide awake for the liberal nightmare you are about to endure. :o)

pbj said: “Liberals are so much better experienced in fascist takeovers….”

That’s very funny. I particularly like the juxtaposition and combination of two diametrically opposite terms on the political spectrum, “liberals” and “fascists”, as if they are the same. Kind of like those optical illusion drawings, like the staircase which seems to be a continuous circle upwards. Very 1960’s psychodelic type of reasoning, mixing unmatchable terms to create an emotional response.

And the reference to the liberals being “experienced” in takeovers, is absolutely great satire, considering the erosion of liberties and takeover of our government over the past few years of Republican rule…

Oh – it wasn’t intended as a satire? I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to embarrass you…..

N in Seattle at 10: I guess after eight years of no-bid contracts and fleecing the treasury, and the possibility of another four years of the same, it seems like chump change to the Republicans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per delegate.

But try to fund health insurance for poor kids under the S-Chip fpogram, and they just go ballistic!

pbj: You might start with reading the 4th amendment to my constitution (not yours, since you don’t follow it) on unreasonable search and seizures and probable cause for a warrant for search and seizures of private property and effects – then look at the fascist BUSH administration and how they view the constitution.

Like cruel and unusual punishment is now OK the Geneva convention is now passe Spying on americans without a warrant is now OK signing statements are now OK – since the executive branch can ignore the other two branches of government.

Yeah – if you want fascism you should be happy with bush – he is well on the road to corrupting what is left of this country and my constitution.

Our own attorney general today said that he won’t prosecute illegal acts of torutre becaue it would call into question justice department advice…that was illegal.

@ 16: So we should nominate Obama so that people who might vote for McCain over Hillary will vote D instead?

No thanks. Obama has already started to accommodate Rs on a whole slate of topics. He talks of reconciliation. Fuck that. The Rs can pound sand, and Hillary is the best candidate to school them on that, even if she was wrong on Iraq.

From the article: “Workers’ wages failed to keep up with the higher inflation. Average weekly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, dropped by 0.9 percent in 2007, the biggest setback since a 1.5 percent fall in 2005.”

This is the Republican tax on the middle class. Cut taxes for the wealthy to create a budget deficit which feeds inflation, which disproportionately affects the middle class working families.

I saw another article today that said that food prices had actually gone up 36% this past year, but I can’t find the link now, I will keep looking….

This is both happy and sad news. Sad because the Mormon asshole would have been super easy to defeat on the way to total Democratic domination of government. But happy because another GOP piece of shit wasted millions of dollars; the right wing hate radio hosts proved they have zero relevancy any more (they were collectively pushing Mitt the Mormon as the choice for republican idiots) and lastly, it means that the Coultergiest must now vote Dem.

In all seriousness – just about every republican I know says he’s not going to vote for McCain so that either means no vote – which helps us win – or a Dem vote – which helps us win. YEA!

“And the reference to the liberals being “experienced” in takeovers, is absolutely great satire, considering the erosion of liberties and takeover of our government over the past few years of Republican rule…”

Yeah, like they stormed in and pulled Goldstein off the air. Wait, that didn’t happen.

Yeah like they stopped you from posting on HA. Wait that didn’t happen either.

Ad of course there is the so-called “fairness doctrine” to force the media to be 100% left wing liberal mouthpeices. A purge is a purge even if you call it “fairness doctrine”. Hilter and is National Socialist party used the same euphamisms to describe his fascist takeover too.

lefty@ 12….done deal. i shake on it. my favorite charity is “miranda’s rescue” so start writing that check now sweetie.i want the ink to be good and dry. heh heh heh……. wasn’t it you guys that were saying just a short time ago that the GOP would destroy itself [and some of you were saying that we were already dead] but it seems as if that shoe is on the other foot now,doesn’t it? do you really think hillary would bow out as gracefully [i’ll give him that….although i don’t like romney] as romney did? oh, hell no………

The powers to track down terorrists are the same ones granted under Clinton to track down drug dealers.

Cruel and unusual punishment is sawing someone’s head off while they are still alive, NOT splashing them with a glass of water.

You think its fascim under Bush, wait until Hitlery gets in there – you ain’t seen nothin yet.

Yet again you cry out of curtailment of speech. However you have yet to illustrate the point in a single instance. Have your posts of dissent on the internet been silenced? Did the govermment threaten the broadcast license of KIRO over Godlstein?

Once again you employ the oldest trick in the book of shysters and conmen – accuse others of what you are guilty.

Your link was instructive. So comments to the effect that a network granted access to the public airwaves has responsibilities consistent with that grant is a “threat?” Only to a Republican, my friend.

In the context of stating the boradcast has a “a partisan bent”, yes it is a threat.

First they “urge you to cancel this broadcast” and then remark:

“The Communications Act of 1934 provides your network with a free broadcast license predicated on the fundamental understanding of your principle obligation to act as a trustee of the public airwaves in serving the public interest. Nowhere is this public interest obligation more apparent than in the duty of broadcasters to serve the civic needs of a democracy by promoting an open and accurate discussion of political ideas and events. ”

“Just remember comrades, I am a party member. So when the stalinist purges come for the dissenters, don’t take me, don’t confiscate what little I posess when your stormtroopers ravage the country side.”

I’m thinking they might have meds to help you with that particular problem….

hey pbj, how about we waterboard you and then you can tell us all how it’s just like splashing water in your face. Oh, come on, ya wuss! What’s a little “splash?”

Wikipedia:

Waterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing a person on his or her back, with the head inclined downward, and pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages.[1] Through forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences the process of drowning in a controlled environment and is made to believe that death is imminent.[2] In contrast to merely submerging the head face-forward, waterboarding almost immediately elicits the gag reflex.[3] Although waterboarding can be performed in ways that leave no lasting physical damage, it carries the risks of extreme pain, damage to the lungs, brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation, injuries (including broken bones) due to struggling against restraints, and even death.[4] The psychological effects on victims of waterboarding can last for years after the procedure.[5]

1. Eban, Katherine. “Rorschach and Awe”, Vanity Fair, July 17, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-17. “It was terrifying,” military psychologist Bryce Lefever is quoted as saying, “…you’re strapped to an inclined gurney and you’re in four-point restraint, your head is almost immobilized, and they pour water between your nose and your mouth, so if you’re likely to breathe, you’re going to get a lot of water. You go into an oxygen panic.” 2. White, Josh. “Waterboarding Is Torture, Says Ex-Navy Instructor”, Washington Post, November 8, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-17. “As the event unfolded, I was fully conscious of what was happening: I was being tortured.” 3. a b c Ross, Brian. “CIA’s Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described”, ABC News, November 8, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-17. “Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.” 4. a b c d Various (April 5, 2006). Open Letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Human Rights News. Retrieved on 2007-12-18. In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales more than 100 United States law professors stated unequivocally that waterboarding is torture, and the use of the practice is a criminal felony punishable under the U.S. federal criminal code. 5. a b Mayer, Jane. “Outsourcing Torture”, The New Yorker, 2005-02-14. Retrieved on 2007-12-18. “Dr. Allen Keller, the director of the Bellevue/N.Y.U. Program for Survivors of Torture, told me that he had treated a number of people who had been subjected to such forms of near-asphyxiation, and he argued that it was indeed torture. Some victims were still traumatized years later, he said.”

If the choice is sawing my head off or spashing water on me, I will take waterboarding any day.

Wikipedia:

Decapitation (from Latin, caput, capitis, meaning head), or beheading, is the removal of a living organism’s head. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, any kind of wire, or knife, or by means of a guillotine. Accidental decapitation can be the result of an explosion, automobile or industrial accident, improperly-administered execution by hanging or other violent injury. Suicide by decapitation is rare, but not unknown.

The word decapitation can also refer, on occasion, to the removal of the head from a body that is already dead. This might be done to take the head as a trophy, for public display, to make the deceased more difficult to identify, or for other reasons.

In an analogous fashion, decapitation can also refer to the removal of the head of an organization. If, for example, the leader of a country were killed, that might be referred to as ‘decapitation’.

Decapitation is invariably fatal, as brain death occurs within seconds to minutes without the support of the organism’s body.

“Tell me fool, would you have let Clinton get away with lawless wiretapping?”

They already did. Just because the New York Times didn’t write about it, you think they didn’t. You may applaud when they come to take me away. But when they come for you, there will be no one around to protest.

No, I gave you the offer. You think waterboarding is a splash in the face, then you undergo it. Your “offer” is your chickenshit way of ducking out on your tough talk. Everyone knows you’re a big pussy.

“pbj” keeps repeating vague and groundless threats by the “liberals” to American liberties.

In contrast, the Republican Party arranges for anyone who wishes to speak their opposition to Republican policies on public streets at the 2004 Republican conventon, to do so only in what is euphamistically called a “free speech zone”, blocks away from the forum and surrounded by chain-link fences which are patrolled by New York police. Attempting to speak outside that area, carrying an anti-Bush sign or even walking near the convention center wearing an anti-war button on your shirt, will get you arrested. Unless, of course, you are a Republican, in which case you can make pro-Bush speaches, wear pro-Bush t-shirts, and carry signs all you want.

PBJ, I suspect that what you really fear is that the Democrats will apply the same rules to the Republicans that the Republicans applied to everyone else. I admit it is tempting – what goes around comes around – but we Democrats are actually better than that.

Not that it doesn’t hurt us from time-to-time, when the MSM you love to hate feels compelled to allow Republicans to broadcast their lies to the public in voluntary compliance to the “fairness doctrine”, which the right wing made sure to abolish, and when the right wing makes no attempt to return the favor.

@24: Sorry pbj – you are dead wrong – it was NOT the same powers under the clinton adminstration – why would they need immunity for the telecoms now for what they did under BUSH?

do you have any documentation? do you have any facts?

On torture? on illegal wiretaps? on anything?

No the true fascists are doing those things and you …are making excuses for them. You don’t give a crap about the constitution – you just pretend to – because you are not consistent in the protection of the constitution.

Just like states rights – where are the republicans complaining about the bush adminsitration blocking the right of california to higher CAFE standards or of oregan for death with dignity.

Hypocrites! Y’all only care about states rights for pillaging our national forests and supporting coporate welfare.

Why is it now, when it is a terrorist being waterboarded that liberals are all up in arms?

Maybe because it does little to no good. Maybe because there’s techniques that don’t involve any physical coercion that yield better results. Maybe because it shows us as talking out of both sides of our mouths. Maybe because we prosecuted Japanese who did it to us in WWII. Maybe because it was the tool of choice during the Spanish inquisition.

Not vague and groundless threats. When an entire gaggle of US Senators writes a threatening letter to a broadcast network, that is hardly a “vague threat” – especially when, in the same letter the call the broadcast a “partisan bent” they lecture on the the FCC and the nature of the braodacaster’s license.

Don Corleone couldn’t have a more vivid veiled threat. Horses heads are so last century I guess.

In the post-Vietnam period, the Navy SEALs and some Army Special Forces used a form of waterboarding with trainees to prepare them to resist interrogation if captured. The waterboarding proved so successful in breaking their will, says one former Navy captain familiar with the practice, “they stopped using it because it hurt morale.”

since this thread has now become all about water boarding, can i ask any of you a question? would you ever use it? how about this scenario? you have a terrorist and he knows where a bomb is but won’t tell you. the bomb will go off in a matter of hours….what do you do?

Hillary is my gal! Go Hillary! Hello 1970’s. Ah those halycon days of America humilated, her embassies sacked and taken hostage for years! High interest rates and unemployment! They will come back with Hillary!

Better under Hillary than McCain. McCain is just a wannabe socialist. Hillary is the pro. Obama, still too green to be a committed socialist.

So? They probably would have gotten “fruitful results” by pulling out fingernails, sticking up a broom handle up his ass, or snipping off his fingers. But, they are all forms of torture that are illegal under U.S. law and international law, and constitute war crimes.

Just remember though, if Obama turns up Vince Fostered befor ethe socialist (uh er Democrat convention), I don’t want to hear any conspiracy theories about Hillary and Bill. They are angels and walk on water.

In this election season, it is invigorating to watch the trolls on this blog compete so earnestly for Most Delusional Whackjob. The desire for the honor appears so deep that I would expect a few of them to apply for matching federal funds to aid them in their quest. Though christmasghost is generally a frontrunner in the campaign, pbj may have taken the lead today. Go for it, pbj, you seem to have the right blend of paranoia, dishonesty, fear, and immunity to truth that makes for a winning candidate.

Romney had a good chance of winning the caucus. I don’t think Huckabee has “a prayer” in Washington state. It isn’t worth the shame and humiliation of becoming a member of the Washington state Republicans to vote for someone who cannot win.

I listened to Mitt Romney’s speech on KIRO as I was driving to court this morning. Dori Monson broadcast most of it live during his radio. Romney gave a pretty decent speech for the most part, but some of his major points left my jaw dropping.

For example, Romney blamed “liberals” for taking so many lower income people off of the income tax rolls.

First of all, this is a total fallacy. All of the income tax reductions (including those affecting lower income people) have been either sponsored or supported by conservative Republicans (and liberal Democrats). The only disagreements have been over how much to cut taxes in the higher income brackets.

Secondly, Romney is basically saying that lower income folks need to be paying more in income taxes. At the same time, he is advocating cutting income taxes — which basically means cutting income taxes ONLY for the rich.

“Comfort yourself with the miserable gruel of right wing bullshit from the usual suspects.”

But I am for Hillary. McCain hasn’t been nearly the socialist Hillary has. Are you saying Hillary is going down? Better not let her hear you say that or your FBI file will be the next to turn up in our white house.

I am trying to learn the lefist script, really I am. But my mind keeps trying to make sense of the blather. I am trying to be one of you. Really I am. I hope to one day be able to spew th talking points without thinking about what I am saying so I can fully and easily support Hillary.

You guys gotta give me a break on this mindlessly repeating the left wing talking points. I am new at it.

I have learned though that Bush is responsible for everything bad in the world. I stubbed my toe this morning and blamed Bush. Does that count?

PBJ@ 75,77,81 and 89…….. ohmygod! i can’t stop laughing. you are really on a roll today….great lines, keep it up……. especially love the one about the IRS. man darryl is so naive it’s frightening.but then, as a professor,what does he really need to “KNOW”??? socialism 101?? he even thinks fruit is healthier than chocolate. shows he doesn’t read much.but , once again, as a professor he doesn’t need to……. if you can’t “do”… teach…and all that. how long did it take you to get your degree again darryl?

“Once again, talking of that which you have no experience. So naive. Keep it up kiddo. That is what I like about you. Naive like a little kid.”

Uh-huh. Sorry Squirt, no matter how awful you felt during your last IRS audit, they did not waterboard you, pull out your fingernails, chop off your finger (even if you gnawed off part of your own finger), or stick a broom stick up your ass (unless that was consensual foreplay, after-hours). All they wanted was the money you owed them (plus interest and penalties).

You display classic Wingnutonoma—an inability to distinguish reality from your emotional response to a circumstance.

No blame Bush for debasing the American dollar, blame him for break the law and violating civil liberties, blame him for the death of over 4000 americans in the meatgrinder he started called Iraq, blame him for making this country more and more irrelevant to what’s really going on in the world, blame him for neglecting crumbling infrastructure, blame him for making this country a laughingstock, blame him for enriching his rich boosters by the billions and handing the bill to the next generation, blame him for a lot things other than your klutziness.

YLB….is this the reasoning you used to post that crappy link? “A little collateral damage? Well, that’s just too bad!”

you talk about torturing someone and bitch about it, yet you post a link [without warning to epileptics] that can cause seizures? and you think that’s okay to do? this must be the same sort of rationalization that people use to torture others huh? “they don’t agree with my point of view so it’s okay to harm them”? you are a real jerk. goldy…..PLEASE remove that post before someone gets hurt, or before you get sued. prior knowledge my friend.

pbj: No your stubbed toe is due to you not looking before you move – kind of like how you write before you think. I think it is all part of the same affliction – lack of forethought.

You could start to cure this problem by not listening to right wing blather – where they train you to talk without thinking (such as Limbaugh or Dori Monson).

Of course the republican party has been 100% behind bush on iraq, on torture (except McCain) and on illegal wiretapping. so the party appratchiks are appropriately following the orders of “dear leader”.

The republicans are also the party of Abramoff, corruption, Katrina and incompetency and the largest budget deficits in history (and the bridge to nowhere) – but I ssaume you also take reponsibility for all that – above and beyond your sorry toe.

Republicans: Little, weak people who don’t take responsibility for anything (including their own president). How many times is Bush even mentioned in the republican debates? They have followed his every move and don’t even mention him.

“Uh-huh. Sorry Squirt, no matter how awful you felt during your last IRS audit, they did not waterboard you, pull out your fingernails, chop off your finger (even if you gnawed off part of your own finger), or stick a broom stick up your ass (unless that was consensual foreplay, after-hours). All they wanted was the money you owed them (plus interest and penalties).”

You weren’t there yet you are telling me exactly what happened. Is that one of the secrets to becoming a leftist, the ability to be an expert regardless of not having any experience? Hmmm. Well that DOES explain Hillary and Obama.

Blame Clinton still? hahaha for the same old false stories. You got nothin’. Old ideas, old complaints – refusal to look at what is going on right now with bush…. yeah – you fit the wingnut mold (oldy and moldy).

No blame Bush for debasing the American dollar, blame him for break the law and violating civil liberties, blame him for the death of over 4000 americans in the meatgrinder he started called Iraq, blame him for making this country more and more irrelevant to what’s really going on in the world, blame him for neglecting crumbling infrastructure, blame him for making this country a laughingstock, blame him for enriching his rich boosters by the billions and handing the bill to the next generation, blame him for a lot things other than your klutziness.

Oh and we can blame him for record umemployment, low interest rates, no attacks on the US homeland since 911 too.

** Great good-bye speech from Mitt. Ditto McCain … Rush Limbaugh, wrong about almost everything since about January 1995, is right that Obama is unassailable this year. Any attempt to call attention to Barack vapidity or to his messy history in Illinois will be denounced as racism. (Mencken said that Harding’s platitudes in 1920 were like wet sponges marching across the sky. Just like Obama’s now. We’re talking world-class landslide here.)

** Broadway Joe threw his rhinestone pumps at Puddy and Hutch, accusing them of being bigots in blackface. Then Joe threw his santorum at someone who called attention to his rancid Broadway bigotry.

correctnotright…..before you gloat that clinton+ jethro bodine are in the clear, i would caution you to think about what is coming up. and i don’t think obama is going to take anything lying down and we know what hillary and jethro are made of. she will stick her finger so far down obamas throat with dirt while at the same time she has both feet in her own mouth….they both will choke. isn’t that a lovely mental image? LOL the clinton’s are the gift that just keeps giving to us conservatives……..

YLB……i don’t give a rat’s ass where you got that link. it’s disgraceful and just plain not right. how could you, who are always bitching about bush “hurting” people, put something like that up and think it’s a funny thing to do? because you are nothing more than a two bit phony. you talk out of both sides of your mouth. i’ll bet you would think torture was great if it was used on people YOU didn’t like. and, since it is no mystery to anyone who posts here regularly that i have epilepsy, you most likely did it with intent to harm. and that link was torture. how proud you must be of yourself right now. behold lefties….what your group is really made of…….

I hope the Dems use all of the footage of the rest of the GOP attacking McCain when the general election comes around. Man this is going to be fun. You think you heard the right wing assholes cry during the last election? You ain’t seen nothing yet. After we whip McCain and take over the White House – these right wing punks will start jumping off bridges. And America will be better for it.

Oh and we can blame him for record umemployment, low interest rates, no attacks on the US homeland since 911 too.

All bullshit. A lot of people are really getting ahead flipping burgers, working at Target and Wal-mart and now languishing laid off from a housing bubble started by “bubbles” Greenspan.

And he’s doing such a great job manufacturing hate and providing training for terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan maybe one day some of those jihadis might come in with the dope from all opium they’re growing over there.

so, YLB, are you admitting to trying to harm me or someone else with epilepsy? and now you rationalize this behavior?it wasn’t the “right wing” that posted that here was it? and if this is your rationalization [it’s just “icky old righties”] then i guess you would use torture on people that YOU didn’t agree with. just like a little dictator. you are just so PROGRESSIVE. kinda like baby doc or pinochet……. and i’ll bet that if i go over to little green footballs they have a warning posted…we’ll see……

Record unemployment – time to stop drinking the kool-aid. Unemployment is up and has been higher than the end of Clintons term. Economic growth during the Bush term has been much lower than during clinton. But then, statistic are not your strong point are they?

Budget supluses from clinton have been turned into budget deficits under Bush. The trade deficit is widening, the economy has turned south and average wages have not kept up with inflation. You republicans know how to ruin an economy. The interest rates are low to try and salvage us from the coming depression and the dollar is at an all-time low.

You lack of knowledge of economics is second only to your fawning right wing ignorance of the effects of the war in Iraq.

YLB.. since i, unlike you, do not spend any time at LGF would you kindly point me to where you got that on the site? i have emailed them asking where it was located and i can’t find it….so are you just lying again?

Record unemployment – time to stop drinking the kool-aid. Unemployment is up and has been higher than the end of Clintons term. Economic growth during the Bush term has been much lower than during clinton. But then, statistic are not your strong point are they?

APparently facts aren’t you strong point. You just assert something with no evidence at all. But that is yet another leftist trait I have to learn.

I apologize for trying to verify what you say. I know that as a committed leftist I am just supposed to take what you say at your word. I haven’t figured out how to do groupthink yet. As you have mastered it as a committed leftist, got any pointers?

I entered the PhD program at Penn State Anthropology Department in the Fall of 1990 and defended my dissertation in December of 1995. Additionally, I spend all of calender year 1993 doing fieldwork in Bangladesh.

As you may know, the duration to a PhD varies by discipline and school. I believe my time-to-degree at Penn State was shorter than others in my program by a year or so. For the discipline, I only have results of a 1982 study, Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States conducted by the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils and published by National Academy Press. The Median times-to-degree of the 12 Anthropology programs they surveyed ranged from 7.1 years to 9.3 years. So I suspect my time-to-degree would be considered short. Is that good or bad?

YLB…..it wasn’t “charles johnson” that posted that here was it? it was you…..and you meant to inflict harm. rationalize all you want. what you did was beyond wrong and i have yet to hear even one leftie here saying that. so i guess you all approve of YLB’s childish and dangerous antics? you must ,or surely you would have said something by now……. goldy…..i am asking you again to take that down and make sure he doesn’t do it again.the liability is yours.

Let’s see…I started college in 1979 and started my faculty position in 1999. Here’s the chronology…

I worked full-time and was a part-time undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for 8 years (plus a 2 year hiatus) from 1979 to fall of 1988. I earned a Masters degree at Wisconsin (while working 60%) from Spring of 1989 to Spring of 1990 (3 semesters). I Went to Penn State from fall of 1990 through fall of 1995. I then did a Postdoc (Individual NRSA from NICHD) at Penn State from 1996 to 1999.

Goldy — I thought a lot about Romney’s investment. Spending $40 million of his own money wasn’t so unreasonable, considering that he is easily worth 5 or 10 (or more) times that amount. But it would have been a much wiser investment if he could have spent it promoting the values and positions that he held the vast majority of his adult life, the values and positions which he promised to the voters of Massachusetts in 1994 and 2002, and the values and positions on which he governed Massachusetts for (most of) his four year term of office.

Or even better yet, Romney could have stayed with his values and positions (instead of positioning himself with the intent to win the Republican presidential nomination), and tried to get a second term as Governor of Massachusetts. He could have even been willing to place some portion of his personal wealth into that venture, if necessary. An incumbent Governor Romney would certainly have seemed more “electable” in November 2008 to be president, than someone who implicitly believed they were not re-electable in their home state.

Senator McCain, on the other hand, seems to have stuck to his guns and his principles. Sure, he is a bit hot-tempered and hella independent — and often unpredictable (to say the least). But not easily accused of being a flip-flopper and definitely not made out of plastic. Four months ago, no one said that McCain had a snowball’s chance of winning the nomination, much less getting the voters of any conservative “base” GOP primary voters. Now, McCain is the GOP heir-apparent and nominee for all practical purposes.

Romney certainly brought an extremely impressive personal resume’ to the contest. And impeccable personal character, without any hint of scandal. But people weren’t really sure of what Romney stood for. His concession speech today sounded nothing at all like his campaign speeches for U.S. Senate in 1994 or Governor in 2002.

Remember when Mitt said he was in this all the way to the convention? That was all of two days ago. Well I guess he came into this campaign a liar and there’s no reason to believe he shouldn’t leave the campaign a liar.

Betcha Romney made a deal with McCain. In exchange for bowing out now, if McCain becomes President, Romney’s going to get a plum position.

And I do think McCain will be our next President. It will be McCain vs Clinton. Unlike a lot of you, I don’t overestimate the intelligence of the American public. Once McCain starts scaring people, and asking them who they want to protect from the bogeyman (radical Islam), a “war hero,” or a female who cries under the pressure of campaigning, that will be that.

“In the 19 states holding both Democratic and Republican primaries and caucuses, more than 14 million people voted for Obama or Clinton. More than 8 million people voted for McCain or Romney or Huckabee. Thus, you could say about 73 percent more Democrats turned out than Republicans. Source: Time

In Missouri, Democratic turnout beat GOP turnout by 70 percent. In 2000, when the state also held two primaries, the opposite was true: Republican turnout trumped the Dems’ by 56 percent. Source: HuffPo”

These numbers would turn any Republican capable of reasoning to drink. I’m not sure, however, any such Republicans remain.

Troll @ 148 Your analysis actually makes sense, though I’m loath to admit that. If Hillary is the Ds’ nominee, we could be screwed. I do think, however, that Obama will win the Ds’ nomination. I think any Democrat who truly wants to win in November had better look long and hard at Obama. I just don’t think Hillary can win. On the other hand, the numbers posted above indicate that the Ds could run my dog, who is as a matter of fact quite progressive, and still win.

@131. PBJ fool: Maybe you should read your own link – here is the whole quote:

“The number of newly laid off workers filing applications for unemployment benefits dropped last week, but not enough to indicate that strains on the labor market are easing.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that 356,000 claims for jobless benefits were filed last week, a decline of 22,000 from the previous week. The decline only erased a part of the huge jump of 72,000 in claims from the previous week.”

Unemployment is rising and the economy is sinking – how is that kool-aid you are drinking?

Seriously, the race for president will be close. McCain will attract the most independents and run as a moderate after he solidifies the right wing of his own party.

We need to hit him hard on Iraq – and that is the issue Hillary is the weakest on…minor differences in health care among the democrats wil not yield any more voters in the general election – this is a red herring for democrats looking for electability.

Hillary’s negatives will drive away more voters than Obama. Bill will almost assuredly make some outlandish statement that will be used negatively. Hillary will mobilize the right wing to come out in force also. some republicans might just sit out an Obama/McCain race.

155 My dog’s name is Maggie (no last name). She is, as her name would suggest, female, and has some Asian heritage (she’s half Chow). She’s pro-choice, antiwar, and believes that respect for the First Amendment requires that all poop-scoop rules be discarded.

Seriously, your last point is what all Hillary-leaning voters need to consider. I know Republicans who like Obama, not because of his positions, but because of his rhetoric. Obama is the most inspirational presidential candidate I have seen in my lifetime (my first presidential vote was for Carter, though I had doorbelled for John Anderson). Beyond that, pragmatism suggests voting for him. I like Hillary. I don’t need another 4 years of Republicans in the White House.

Many of you are intellectuals. But you have to remember, a great many Americans are not. They don’t pick a candidate because of the issues, they vote on primal emotions. McCain’s going to play upon those base emotions; upon people’s fears. Any terrorist act that happens in the world between now and November 4th will be a plus in his column. He’ll use it to remind people it’s a scary world out there, and he’s the right (and only) man for the job. That kind of crap resonates with middle America. Remember, the kind of people that voted for Bush are still out there. Do you think they’ve gone up in I.Q. in the last four years? Is there a Bradley Effect for sexism instead of racism? If so, one might have to be invented. I think some who publicly say they’ll vote for Clinton will choose the male when they’re behind the curtain.

Troll: Maybe so – but Bush has fooled too many people for too long and they are looking behind the curtain of the man saying watch out for all the bad terrorists.

The majority of Americans now believe the Iraq war was a mistake – not true in 2004. The terrain has changed and the worse the economy, gas prices and the war get in the next 6 months – the worse off McCain is. The only thing that will save him is the combination of a terrorist attack and the Saudis trying to help the clueless republicans with low gas prices again.

The Republican approach to tax reform — steal from the poor and give to the rich. Here’s what Mitt Romney said today, when he spoke before the “Conservative Political Action Committee”, withdrew from the presidential race, and gave his backing to John McCain:

“The threat to our culture comes from within. … [T]he liberals haven’t given up. At every turn, they try to substitute government largesse for individual responsibility. They fight to … remove more and more people from having to pay any income tax whatsoever.

…

It’s high time to lower taxes, including corporate taxes, to take a weed-whacker to government regulations, to reform entitlements, and to stand up to the increasingly voracious appetite of the unions in our government!”

Republicans such as Romney believe that it is imperative to lower income taxes for wealthy Americans and corporations, but that it is not only bad policy, but some sort of terrible sin, to lower income taxes for lower income and moderate income Americans.

hillary is unelectable…. she is shrill, whiny and she is saddled with a million and counting bad docs and jethro bodine as “first lady” obama….too inexperienced, too grandiose,bad/shaky voting record,and REZKO……..and then there is that whole hispanic and asian thing…..it’s not whites that will have racial issues with obama, it’s hispanics and asians. they are not going to vote for a black guy for president…..sad but true. that will change over time. expect obama to be a real candidate in about 8 years….depending on his senate record between now and then. men won’t vote for a woman…..especially if said woman is the non-woman hillary. i would say that you guys are fairly screwed.

156….that was the CPAC convention and he wasn’t booed. wishful thinking on your part……

YLB @ 165 Excellent post. The whole nation is feeling unbalanced after Newt and GW. It’s time to return to sanity. By the way, where did your quote come from, “primal emotions”? Emotions, or at least intangible factors, play a huge role in how we vote. Anyone who claims to vote for a candidate strictly on their positions on issues is either lying or self-deluded.

166 – PL, the one thing I forgot to mention about the motion sickness experience was how long it lingered. Like once it took hold of you, it didn’t want to let go. You just felt trapped and wondered if it would ever pass.

That feeling of being trapped and sick I associate with far right Republican rule.

If all people had that feeling about Republicans, we wouldn’t have Republicans.

YLB Shoot, I’ve actually been civil toward Troll today. But, criticizing folks because they vote on emotion rather than issues? Hell, we do both. We’re human. That’s what happens. On the other hand, why do we have Republicans? Do they serve a purpose anymore? I’m all for diversity, but are Republicans a productive part of the diversity rainbow?

I seldom come back to read theads the next day, but this one was just too hillarious to miss. PBJ defending the torture of suspects on the off chance they might tell something usefull, dismissing Bush’s screwups which kill thousands overseas and ruin lives here in the U.S., and then he sobbs about how tough it was when (wait for it) – the IRS audited him!

I suspect they took one look at his return, asked him to explain his deductions, and then dismissed his circular and obtuse reasoning and disallowed the deduction. That was too much for him – he was left a sobbing, quivering mass, and the evil IRS is at fault!

In this phsychotic state he dreams he sees an image, coming to him toward him from a blinding white light. At first he thinks it is Jesus. Then as it comes closer he realizes it is not Jesus, but Karl Rove, dressed all in white. The figure puts his arm around him and comforts him. “Don’t worry, as long as the Republicans are in charge, we won’t let that mean old IRS bother you any more. Just keep hating the Democrats and voting Republican, and we will make it all go away….”

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